Coyotes History Throwback, Vol. I: The Beginning
The headline in the Sports Business Daily on Dec. 13, 1995: “Jets Sign Phoenix Agreement, Now Seek NHL Approval.”
NHL hockey was coming to the Valley of the Sun!
Not for the first time; hockey had existed here prior to that time in the form of the Phoenix Roadrunners. They had participated in various different minor leagues over time, including the CHL, WHL, WHA, ECHL. The Coyotes relocating here from Winnipeg for the 96-97 season wouldn’t be introducing a new sport- but it would certainly be bringing it to a new level.
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Puck Prose
BG Hockey Ventures (Richard Burke and Steven Gluckstern- even though those are MY initials, it seems I had nothing to do with the purchase of the team) closed the sale that would bring the team from Winnipeg… for $65M. Burke and Gluckstern originally planned to move the team to Minnesota (who had lost the North Stars to Dallas in 1993), but eventually reached an agreement with Phoenix businessman Jerry Colangelo. An assist is well deserved for some nifty moves by Colangelo, who served as landlord at the time and pretty much ensured the NHL could work here in the Valley.
That number may seem small- the team currently has a value of $300M. To put everything in perspective, though, player’s salaries- along with inflated ticket prices- were largely the culprit there. Everything was cheaper then- gas was $1.15 a gallon, the median household income was $34,076… you get my point.
By August 2, 1996- just two weeks after the sale was finalized- the Coyotes had sold commitments for 10,750 season tickets to play at America West Arena in downtown Phoenix, now the home of the Suns, Rattlers, and Mercury.
The problem? AWA was built specifically for basketball, concerts, and Arena Football- NOT NHL hockey. Because the ice surface is much larger than a basketball court, the playing surface for the rink had about 4,000 sight-obstructed seats. This was also due to where the ice making machine could be placed below the playing surface. Even with the boasting of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman (yes, he’s been around THAT long) that the numbers prove it. It’s going to be in my opinion, one of the great hockey cities.” This he said after the 96-97 season, when the Coyotes had made it to the first round of the playoffs and had 21 sellouts at the 16,210-seat America West Arena, and averaged 15,586 for 41 home games, per Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic. But McManaman also wrote that there were “glitches” as well. The ice surface and dasher boards at America West “often drew criticism from opposing coaches and players.” Star coach Ken Hitchcock stated, “the ice is as bad as any place I’ve seen this year” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC 5/5/97).
“A little piece of trivia-the team name ‘Coyotes’ was reportedly one of the final names being considered for Phoenix’s MLB team before they decided to go with the ‘Diamondbacks.'”
Now, on to the team- the FIRST NHL team in Phoenix, Arizona.
How well did they do? Not bad at all- considering back then, the Western Conference was not as competitive as it is today. Like, 83 points and you make the playoffs? Yep.. and a third place finish in the Central Division, fifth in the Western Conference. To look at the team that coach Don Hay had that year in a nutshell… they had good enough goaltending (Nikolai Khabibulin “Bulin Wall”), a fair defense and offense (sound familiar) and decent coaching. Captain Keith Tkachuk led all Coyotes scorers with 52 goals and 34 assists to go along with his 228 minutes in the box. The then Desert Dogs would go on to lose to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks four games to three in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs… but that was just the beginning.